ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores how play facilitates engagement in cultural heritage exhibitions. Using a sociocultural approach, it examines the behavioural engagement of individual free-choice visitors, focusing on how play shapes physical and emotional involvement, social interaction and time spent in the exhibition. The empirical research observes visitors of different ages exploring the same space simultaneously, aiming to determine how play influences their behaviour. Direct observation was essential, offering insight into unguided visiting practices. Data analysis shows that play affects engagement both directly and indirectly, appearing in at least six distinct forms. When designing such exhibitions, it is important to consider the potential for active engagement, as play involves visitors physically, emotionally and cognitively. Moreover, play can sustain the interest of less engaged visitors while they wait for others.

ABSTRACT Museums are seeking to be more relevant to their communities and help foster social change, which requires museum professionals to reconceive the role of their organization, develop new relationships, and change their practices. In this article, we discuss the Sustainability Fellowship that engaged museum professionals from nearly 200 organizations in learning about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and implementing a whole-institution approach to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Using grounded theory, we consider the program’s fit with a community of transformation, which is ‘a community that creates and fosters innovative spaces that envision and embody a new paradigm of practice’ (Kezar, Gehrke, and Bernstein-Sierra 2018). We conclude that the program can be considered a community of transformation and that viewing it from this perspective provides useful insights that can inform other fieldwide efforts to effect change in museum practices.

ABSTRACT Museums and cultural institutions are increasingly central to the global green transition, acting not only as custodians of cultural memory but also as public-facing actors in sustainability communication. This study examines how sustainability narratives, particularly those related to carbon reduction, are embedded in museum conservation practices, institutional communication, and exhibition strategies. Using a qualitative comparative case study of selected museums in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Europe, the research draws on discourse analysis of institutional documents and public communications, complemented by interviews with museum professionals. The findings show that European museums tend to frame sustainability through narratives of ecological stewardship, accountability, and policy alignment, while GCC museums more often emphasize innovation, modernization, and national identity. By situating carbon narratives within the broader green transition of museums, the study contributes to debates on sustainability communication and offers practical insights for museum governance and policy across diverse regional contexts.

ABSTRACT Previous research on museum fatigue has predominantly focused on its environmental or visitor antecedents. From this dichotomous perspective, fatigue-mitigation strategies tend to lack explanatory power or offer little practical, actionable guidance. This study investigates the impact on museum fatigue and its underlying mechanisms by focusing on a set of constructs at the intersection between the environment and visitors: satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Using a survey of 347 visitors across seven museums in China, we employ a combined PLS-SEM and fsQCA approach. We find that satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs can counter museum fatigue, with museum involvement and visitors’ trait self-control acting as the mediating and moderating mechanisms, respectively. This study offers targeted recommendations for museum management and re-conceives museum fatigue as an outcome of how well the environment satisfies visitors’ psychological needs, thus deepening the theoretical understanding of museum fatigue.

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of care in art museums: What defines a caring cultural institution? How can caring measures be effectively implemented? To address these questions, it draws on research conducted with art museum employees and independent curators in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal, focusing on their professional practices in relation to care. The article highlights the diverse ways in which care is integrated into cultural practices, both at practical and methodological levels, while also identifying the challenges these initiatives face. Findings reveal that education and mediation departments, along with independent curators, play a pivotal role in implementing care-related practices. By doing so, they promote greater inclusivity in cultural access and foster meaningful connections with local communities. However, the article also points to structural limitations within institutions that hinder the broader adoption of care-based methodologies, suggesting the need for changes to align institutional practices with the values of care.

ABSTRACT Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the organisational structures of museums have undergone continuous transformation in response to shifting political, economic, and social contexts. However, few studies have systematically examined the background, processes, and impacts of these changes. This article traces the historical development of organisational structures in Chinese museums, focusing on three key models: (1) the three-department system (Sanbuzhi), which emerged during the socialist period under Soviet influence; (2) the curatorial director system (Yewu zhuguanzhi), established during the Reform and Opening-up period through the adoption of American concepts; and (3) the exhibition curator system (Cezhanren zhidu), developed from local practices during the free admission era. Adopting a long-term research perspective, this paper explores the interaction between foreign concepts and local practices in the museum sector, as well as the new developments in Chinese museums driven by this interaction.

ABSTRACT Museums are adopting innovations to enhance engagement, yet accessibility for visitors with reduced mobility, particularly with mobility limitations, remains limited. This study examines how risk perceptions shape the museum experience across pre-service, service, and post-service stages, focusing on the introduction of electric mobility scooters. Through interviews with visitors and frontline employees, findings show that empathetic staff interactions and access to mobility aids enhance autonomy, emotional safety, and inclusion. Clear accessibility information and empathetic communication mitigate pre-visit anxieties. During the visit, emotionally engaged frontline employees build trust and reduce anxiety, while post-visit emotional safety fosters satisfaction and loyalty. The study proposes a rapport-centered accessibility framework, emphasizing that emotional service is as crucial as physical accessibility. The Thyssen Museum pioneered this approach, demonstrating that combining mobility devices with employee training can transform accessibility. However, institutional resistance highlights the need for a sector-wide cultural shift toward inclusive design.

ABSTRACT This article reviews the ways in which research into natural history museums has focused on interactions of visitors with permanent exhibitions. The review covers research articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2022. It analyses six aspects of museum-visitor interactions: (1) the conceptualisation, by exhibition curators, of interaction with visitors; (2) the mediation, by museum educators, between museum and audience, through supervised teaching and learning; (3) the interpretation, by visitors in their meaning-making process, of permanent exhibitions; (4) the influence exerted by exhibition qualities on museum-audience interactions; (5) the presentation of subject-specific content; and (6) the institutional mission and social impact of natural history museums, as reflected in their permanent exhibitions. This systematic literature review seeks to help researchers and natural-history museum professionals in their conceptualisation and development efforts, as they work to develop influential permanent exhibitions.